Baron
=Baron= Description The frontiers of the human realm were defended by landowners known as Barons. Some Barons were warlike and restless. As humankind spread over Elysium and became dominant, these barons tried to usurp their masters' powers and waged war on their neighbors. The large, well-trained forces at their disposal made them formidable foes. They were soon in control of large parts of the human territories. However not all humans were content with this. The sorcerers of Elysium gathered armies of their own and nonhuman warlords called out for vengeance. The Barons must once again subjugate Elysium. The Baron has a wide variety of human troops and huge siege engines at his disposal. Knights are formidable units who can inflict additional damage by charging enemies in the initial phase of a battle. Heavy infantry units are strong, but move slowly. Fast cavalry units under the leadership of mounted commanders works as a highly mobile force. The Baron knows how to keep his subjects in line and can cow peasants into obedience. All farms and villages under the Baron's rule are required to send a levy of soldiers to the baron each year. This muster consists of simple spearmen from farms and at least one knight from each village. Large towns and cities do not contribute soldiers. The Baron can also form local militias to defend villages and cities. The larger the settlement, the stronger the militia. Abilities: *Starts with a very well fortified castle. *25% increase to gold income. *25% increase to iron income. *Conscription yields soldiers from farms, hamlets and villages once every year. *The Baron and High Lords can Raise Levies (immobile defenders) in villages and towns. Armies Starting Troops: 1 Baron, 1 High Lord, 5 Spearmen, 5 Longbowmen, 5 Cavalrymen Recruits: Leaders: # 1 Baron n/a n/a 1 High Lord * 1 Captain * Regulars: # 5 Spearmen 50 0 10 Swordsmen 50 5 5 Crossbowmen 50 5 5 Heavy Infantries 50 25 4 Longbowmen 50 0 5 Pikeneers 50 5 5 Halberdiers 50 5 5 Zweihanders 50 10 5 Tower Guards 50 15 3 Cavalrymen 50 20 4 War Dogs 25 0 1 Ballista 10 50 1 Catapult 25 50 1 Trebuchet 50 50 Irregulars: # 10 Spearmen 70 0 10 Swordsmen 70 7 10 Crossbowmen 70 7 10 Archers 70 0 2 Trebuchets 75 75 Mercenaries: # 1 Scout * 0 * Price varies Conscripts: # * Spearmen * * * Knights * * * Conscripts are recruited from farms and villages the Baron controls every year in Early Summer. Farms provide simple spearmen, while each village will provide at least one Knight. Note that larger towns and cities do not provide any conscripts. Levies: # * Levies (Spear) * * * Levies (Sling) * * * The Baron and his High Lords' 'can levy defenders from human settlements (villages and larger) under his control by spending an action point. Each levy has a chance to provide a percentage of the maximum number of troops the settlement can supply, including 0% (no recruits at all) and 100% (all possible recruits at once). Strategy Refar32's strategy notes on the Baron: The Baron is a pretty straight forward class to play. Some consider it one of the easiest and most powerful, but I'm not quite as fond of it personally. The very beginning can be rough and is somewhat dependant on luck, as the Barons starting forces aren't very powerful. Afterwards, in the early phases of a game, conscription can be very useful, as the free troops and especially the Knights can indeed come in handy. But it is imperative to expand agressively and spend the resources on the wide variety of basic troops available. This process includes a lot of busywork, and while this can be annoying at times for a human player, it's one of the reasons the Baron is one of the classes most suitable for the AI - it's great at keeping firm control of it's resource sites, building troops everywhere and then consolidate those troops into large forces, which is exactly what the Baron needs to do. By the mid game, this should result in him having some pretty large stacks, ideally with lots of ranged troops, and he'd best make haste to win the game with them. Because by then, the Barons biggest weakness starts to come into play: he has no reliable access to spellcasters and no access at all to units more powerful than Knights or Cavalrymen. Being faced with large numbers of powerful beasts, possibly with lots of special attacks, and/or powerful mages in the late game can quickly be his undoing. *Added note To reinforce the last of what Refar32 said, a single Demilich can lay waste to 100+ strong Baron army, even if the Baron has access to a handful of spells/magic weapons. A single Demilich casting Soul Drain (absorbs life from entire battlefield) will be enough to keep him shredding your troops. Also factor in large beasts that Causes Fear, such as an Echidnas or a Dragon. Said Dragon even has an AoE attack to further decimate your ranks. This makes Barons particularly weak in large maps. Having stacks of 300+ troops means little when other classes are bringing powerful, magical behemoths to bear supported by large armies of their own, further augmented by tier 3 magics (usually aoe effects, buffing their entire army/attacking yours). This makes Barons solidly a "Mid-game threat". They take time to build up, but peak in power relatively early. Whats an extra rank of knights compared to the other 5 you have? Even if you win the battle, you're numbers will likely be sorely decimated. You must be aggressive and push hard. On the largest map sizes, you might find yourself in an unwinnable situation if you find the far corner of the map has hosted an Enchanter/Witch left to build their forces. Category:Classes